When a patient visits a dentist for the first time or for a dental examination, the patient is often requested to take a dental radiograph, with which the dentist can have an idea about the patient's tooth roots and occlusion. According to the conventional radiographic procedures, after the radiography, the dentist has to wait until an x-ray film is developed. Then, the dentist looks at the x-ray film to make a diagnosis. Therefore, the dental examination based on the conventional dental radiography is time-consuming and expensive for both of the patient and the dentist.
According to a real-time dental radiography that is currently adopted by most dentists, a direct digital image sensor connected to a computer device is disposed in the patient's oral cavity, and x-ray is irradiated on a part of the patient's tooth roots from outside of the patient's oral cavity. An image of the patient's tooth roots is produced on the direct digital image sensor, and the dentist can look at the image directly on a screen of the computer device connected to the direct digital image sensor.
Please refer to FIG. 1. When using the real-time dental radiography, the direct digital image sensor 11 is connected to a holder before being extended into the patient's oral cavity. The patient has to hold the direct digital image sensor 11 between upper and lower teeth in the process of taking the dental radiograph.
The conventional holder for holding the direct digital image sensor 11 includes a handle 10 and a holding structure 13 provided on a front end of the handle 10. The holding structure 13 includes a plurality of retaining brackets 12, which are abutted on upper and lower edges of the direct digital image sensor 11 when the latter is disposed on the holding structure 13, so that the direct digital image sensor 11 is held to the holding structure 13 to locate at the front end of the handle 10. The dentist can grip a rear end of the handle 10 with one hand and extends the direct digital image sensor 11 into the patient's oral cavity for capturing images of the patient's teeth.
Being a precision electronic instrument, the direct digital image sensor 11 removed from the patient's mouth can not be directly put in a high-temperature sterilization box for disinfection but only be disinfected in a relatively simple way, such as using a disinfection wet wipe to wipe it. Therefore, there is a risk of sanitary safety in using the direct digital image sensor 11. Further, the conventional direct digital image sensor holder is not convenient for use. First, the direct digital image sensor 11 is held to the holding structure 13 in a fixed direction, and the dentist needs to frequently change between different holders for holding the direct digital image sensor 11 in different directions to capture the images of tooth roots at different positions in the patient's oral cavity, so as to obtain a complete sets of images for all the tooth roots.
Second, the retaining brackets 12 of the holding structure 13 are abutted on outer edges of the direct digital image sensor 11 to thereby increase an overall size of the direct digital image sensor 11. The patient would obviously feel more uncomfortable with the size-increased direct digital image sensor 11 held between the patient's upper and lower teeth.
Further, the direct digital image sensor 11 is connected to the holding structure 13 simply by abutting the retaining brackets 12 on the outer edges of the direct digital image sensor 11. Therefore, the direct digital image sensor 11 tends to displace in the patient's oral cavity to adversely affect the quality of the captured images.
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional direct digital image sensor holder, it is desirable to develop an improved hand-held direct digital image sensor device that includes a connection handle, to which a direct digital image sensor received in a soft protective cover can be stably connected in 180-degree opposite directions, so that a dentist can conveniently capture images for a patient's all teeth with the same one connection handle and the patient's discomfort in holding the direct digital image sensor in the mouth can be reduced. Further, since the protective cover is disposable or can be thoroughly disinfected, the risk of sanitary safety in using the direct digital image sensor is also minimized.